Add & Subtract Basic Facts - Count On and Back . Counting is a fundamental skill in the development of early number understandings. Counting as a computation and basic fact strategy is not efficient unless the students are only counting on 1 or 2. . Counting can become the go-to strategy for students who lack confidence with other computation and basic fact strategies even when it is slow because of the students’ confidence in their ability to count which can lead to reliance on this inefficient